THE OOLOGIST. 



239 



cilage on the flap, and place them in 

 the forms, wedge them in and let them 

 ■dry. When I take them out I trim the 

 edges. If you do not break them well 

 they will bow out of shape as the ones 

 ;yon buy. 



A. C. Murchison, 

 Kewan.ee, Illinois. 



Thankagiving Notes from the Far West. 



To-day being Thanksgiving Da;', 1 

 have sometime to myself,so take a walk 

 "to the suburbs of the eity to study bird 

 life. Although the winter season is 

 near at hand, the weather so far has 

 been very mild, and therefore there are 

 are but few winter visitors with us; on 

 the other hand there are several sum- 

 mer species still here that even np for 

 the absence of the winter birds. 



To-day bird life seems abundant. The 

 iirst species noted is a Western Winter 

 Wren, skipping about in our hedge. 

 ■Next comes a Ruby Crowned Kinglet 

 with its scolding note; it stops a mo- 

 ment, then goes on, and is soon out ot 

 «ight. The 'familiar note of the Wes- 

 tern Blue-bird is now heard and upon 

 lookiug upward we seethree of them, 

 -and as many Oregon Juncos dying aftai 

 ■them. They fly at one another lor some 

 time as it paying i.ag, the Juncos get- 

 ting the best of it. A little farther on 

 we come to a Mountain Ash tree full of 

 •red berries and among them are four 

 'California Purple Finches eating the 

 berries. They prefer the ones that are 

 decayed and only eat the small seeds 

 inside the berry. In a neighboring tree 

 -are a number of Western Rubins. They 

 •are more greedy and swallow the- ber- 

 whole. Both species seem to be quite 

 tame, allowing me to stand within four 

 feet of them, but perhaps it is the ber- 

 ries they are interested in. As we con- 

 tinue our walk we hear on either side, 

 the song of the Rusty Song Sparrow. 

 Its song is pleasing and no doubt simi- 

 4ar to its Eastern cousins. Our atten- 



tion is now attracted by the harsh cry 

 of the California Blue Jay; close behind 

 is its mate. We are still in the city 

 and it seems odd to see a Jay here. 

 Another bird that comes under our no- 

 tice is the Oregon Towhee. It too, looks 

 out of place in the city for like others 

 of the genus, Fipilo, it delights in being 

 in thick brush where it may be heard 

 scratching noisily among the fallen 

 leaves for insects. 



As we near the woods we meet with 

 the Oregon Junco, California Purple 

 Finch, Myrtle and Audubon's Warbler, 

 (winter plumage) and the Rusty Song 

 Sparrow in large numbers, and in a tree 

 not far away is seen the Oregon Chicka- 

 dee feeding. 



It is now nearing dinner time so I 

 must return home and help devour 

 Meleagris domesticus. I wish the editor 

 and readers of the Oologist could join 

 you. 



You can imagine what a friendly 

 hand-shaking two thousand Ornitholo- 

 gists and and Oologists could have. 

 VsLyde L. Keller, 

 Salern, Oregon. 

 Nov. 26, '91. 



The Blue -gray Gnat-catcher in Arkansas. 



One of our most interesting summer 

 residents is this little specimen of 

 bird life. It arrives here about the 

 twenty-fifth of March. From the top 

 of some tall tree we are first made 

 aware of his presence, by the shrill, 

 wiry notes which he is accustomed to 

 utter during the live-long day, as he 

 flits in and out among the branches in 

 tireless pursuit of insects. Not a crack 

 or crevice of the tree escapes his keen 

 scrutiuy. At such times he seems to be 

 all hurry and bustle, as though the 

 work of a life time must be crowded 

 into a few short days: 



As the warm days advance his whole 

 nature seems to undergo a change. We 

 no longer hear those shrill notes, but 



